Darkly luscious Technicolor photography and a little whip-cracking S&M fun are the highlights of this Italo-Goth horror job from Mario Bava in his salad days. Settle in for a slow pace with this one. It’s less than ninety minutes long, but Bava is no rush to get through the story of what happens when the black sheep of aristocratic stock (Christopher Lee) gets his throat slashed in the family castle one night and then seems to rise from the dead just so he can whip his unrequited love as she moans with joy. The plot thickens as other people around start dying, too. Along the way, the film basks under strange purple skies and searing blue moonlight. It’s a real sleeper in Bava’s body of work. One dry glass of Cabernet with hints of blackcurrant and violets.